Your daily look at news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today.
3 GOP GOVERNORS BLAST MEDICARE ADVANTAGE RATES
Three Southern Republican governors are writing President Barack Obama to complain about newly announced Medicare Advantage payments. Florida Gov. Rick Scott, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal signed the April 15 letter that says changes to Medicare Advantage payments will harm “America’s seniors.” The changes are blamed on the nation’s health care overhaul.
RESEARCHERS, SEN. NELSON, TO MEET ON REFORM SCHOOL
Researchers from the University of South Florida will meet with U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson to discuss the excavation of the graveyard at a former reform school on the Panhandle. The meeting will be held Tuesday at Nelson’s Tampa office. According to Nelson, the researchers will share what they have found at the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys. The USF researchers will also talk about information on DNA testing.
HOMELESS MAN IS SEVERELY BEATEN; ARREST MADE
A Palm Beach County man is in custody after authorities say he severely beat a homeless man. The sheriff’s office reports that 41-year-old George Gravatt was charged with aggravated battery after a weekend attack in which a man was asleep in his tent behind a convenience store in West Palm Beach. The victim said he was beaten with a pipe.
MILITARY LEADERS, SPIES IN TAMPA FOR CONVENTION
Some of the nation’s top spies and military leaders, along with about 4,000 others in the defense, intelligence and homeland security communities, are descending on Tampa for a symposium being billed by organizers as the largest intelligence event in the U.S. The GEOINT Symposium 2013(asterisk) began Monday and runs through Thursday. The asterisk in the symposium’s name denotes how it was scuttled last year by the government shutdown.
PANHANDLE SEES INTEREST FROM TV AND FILM MAKERS
Tourism leaders in the Pensacola area say more television producers and film makers are paying attention to their region. The Santa Rosa Island Authority, which oversees Pensacola Beach, says it is working with a Spanish film crew that plans to shoot a movie about Spanish explorer Bernardo de Galvez. Tourism officials say the film industry is good for the region’s economy and that they are excited about the various projects
